Monday, September 14, 2015

Playing favorites

Playing favorites

Since fiscal year 2008, Republicans in the Arizona
Legislature have shifted state funding away from education and toward the
Department of Corrections, which oversees the operations of for-profit, private
prisons.

A recent analysis by Children’s Action Alliance[1] showed
that spending for K-12 education, community colleges, and universities has been
on a plummeting trajectory since 2008.
During the same time frame, state spending on corrections has jumped by
33 percent.

This trend is, in part, the result of misguided Republican
priorities. Republican leaders continue to invest in private
prisons, which may
not be saving the state money, while divesting from public education. This
seems to indicate they are playing favorites with private prisons.